Talking
Nick pulled the cinnamon rolls from the oven and placed them on top of the stove.
“Are they ready?” Hanna jumped around behind him. “They smell so good!”
“They need to cool.” He closed the oven and slid off the mitts. “You can help me frost them in a few minutes if you’d like.”
“Yay!” She danced around the kitchen, clapping and singing.
Nick opened the fridge and pulled out the bowl of fruit he’d cut up a few minutes earlier. “Can you see if Ava and Parker are up yet?”
“Can I wake them if they’re not?” Hanna pleaded with her eyes.
“Just let them sleep.”
“Aw.” Her shoulders slumped as she plodded down the hallway.
“Just check,” he reminded her as he pulled the freshly-squeezed juice from the fridge. He set it and the fruit on the dining room table before going back to check on the cinnamon rolls.
Hanna came back with a slight frown. “Still sleeping. Sure I can’t wake them? Ava kept me up last night.”
Nick arched a brow. “She did? Doing what?”
“Talking. Probably on her phone to Braylon.” Hanna added an extra syllable to her sister’s boyfriend’s name.
“How late?”
Hanna shrugged. “Dunno. Can I frost those now?”
Nick tried to remember if he could hear anything the night before, but he’d been so tired he likely could have slept through an explosion.
“Daddy?”
He took a peek at the rolls. “They’re probably ready. Remember how to spread it?”
She nodded vigorously and reached for the packet of icing.
Nick cut the top off and handed it to her. As she squeezed it out, he finished getting the table ready for breakfast with Genevieve, Tinsley, and his kids.
Ding-dong.
Perfect timing. He checked his reflection in a mirror by the door—he had Corrine to thank for the placement. There wasn’t much he could thank her for, but she did have interior decorating smarts.
Nick reached for the doorknob, but Hanna swooped in and pulled it open. “Tinsley!”
The two girls hugged, then ran down the hall toward Hanna’s room. Two distinct voices sounded.
His eyes widened. “Tinsley just said something to Hanna.”
“I know.” Genevieve smiled as she stepped in, and they exchanged a pleased expression. “I’ve never heard her speak more than she has in the last few days.”
Nick took the covered plate from her and nudged the door closed. “That’s great news.”
“It’s odd timing, but I’ll take it.” She glanced at the table. “This looks great. Can I help with anything?”
“No, everything’s ready. It’s just a matter of dragging the kids out here.”
Nick called the kids. Hanna and Tinsley rushed out and sat down at the table. Nick knocked on Parker’s and Ava’s doors. “Breakfast is ready! Genevieve and Tinsley are here.”
He went to the table and sat. Just as he was about to tell the others to eat, Parker and Ava plodded into the dining room.
“You guys look like zombies.” Hanna giggled, and Tinsley joined in.
“Ha-ha.” Ava glared at her sister and said good morning to Genevieve. She then went into the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee.
Hanna poked at the covered dish Genevieve brought. “What did you make?”
“Hash browns. You like them?”
“They’re my favorite! Especially with lots of ketchup.”
It didn’t take long for the food to disappear, then for the kids to run off in different directions. Music played in Parker’s room and the shower started in the bathroom. The back door slammed shut as Hanna and Tinsley headed for the backyard.
“Want some help cleaning this mess?” Genevieve asked.
Nick took her hand and rubbed his thumb along her wrist. “Maybe in a bit. How are you doing?”
“Tired but okay, considering.”
“I know that feeling all too well. How are your parents holding up?”
She frowned and her expression showed just how exhausted she was. “Dad keeps fishing like the lakes are running out of fish. He leaves Mom to deal with the stress on her own. I guess he thinks I’m going to take care of her.”
“Is that typical?” Nick continued rubbing her wrist.
“Unfortunately. I feel like this is overboard, but then again, so is the whole situation. What are the chances we’d live in a house that’s used as a burial ground? I’m sure he just doesn’t know how to handle everything. He certainly isn’t going to talk about it with anyone. So, he fishes. Every day now, apparently. Must be nice to be retired.”
“Everybody has their own ways of dealing with stress. Look at Tinsley. She hasn’t been talking to anyone, either.”
“Yeah, but she’s a kid and she’s been through so much worse. Losing her parents like that. Having to help her mom kidnap and torture people.” Genevieve shuddered and her eyes took on a glassy look.
Nick pulled her into his embrace. “How are you holding up under all the stress?”
She laced her smooth fingers through his. “Trying to be strong for everyone else.”
He ran his palm over her hair, kissed the top of her head, and took in the fruity smell of her shampoo. “You don’t have to be strong for me.”
Genevieve relaxed a little against him but didn’t say anything.
Nick smoothed her hair. “I obviously don’t know exactly what you’re going through, but I know what it’s like to be on that side of an investigation. To be unable to do anything professionally and to watch people you care about dealing with impossible situations.”
She nodded. “How are the kids handling Corrine’s incarceration?”
He took in a deep breath. “It’s hard on them. I can see it in their eyes whenever they talk about her. Hanna’s the only one who actually expresses her sadness to me. She’s young enough that she isn’t self-conscious about crying. Parker just gets mad, and Ava…” Nick had a hard time finding words to describe how his oldest was handling everything. “I think she’s using avoidance as her tool of choice. She spends a lot of time with her friends and boyfriend, which I think is good. She’s even taking an interest in tennis, which I’d have never expected, but then again Braylon is on the school team.”
“Sounds healthy enough to me. I’d be worried if she was hiding out in her room, avoiding everyone.”
“That’s true. None of the kids are doing that.”
“At least you care.”
Nick paused. “What do you mean?”
Genevieve hesitated. “I went through something as a teenager, but nobody paid any attention to how I dealt with it once it was over.”
“You went through something? What was it?” He raked his mind, trying to remember if she had mentioned something before, but couldn’t think of anything.
She shook in his arms.
“Are you okay?” He held her closer. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“I do want to talk about it.” Her voice wavered. “I haven’t since it happened.”
Nick’s mind pulled a bunch of different theories—and some were horrific, given what he’d seen in his years on the force. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Her hand tightened and shook in his, and she drew in a deep breath. She started to say something, but stopped.
He rubbed her wrist again. “I would never judge you. Never think less of you. You’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. One of the strongest and most intelligent officers on the force.”
She brought her hand up to her face and when she pulled it away, a tear rolled down to her arm.
Nick’s chest tightened. He hated to see her hurting.
Genevieve nestled closer to him and sniffled. “When I was sixteen, I went with a friend to her cousins’ house out in the country. Some small town I can’t even remember the name of that was surrounded by woods.”
He continued rubbing her wrist and he kissed the top of her head every so often, waiting for her to continue.
“Her cousins were a little older. Graduated high school and had their own little house. It was rundown, but I didn’t think anything of it because I figured they just had a hard time making ends meet at their age. But then I found out later they were into drugs and some weird cult-like stuff. Anyway, late that night they woke us up because they wanted to go into the woods for a bonfire. I should’ve known something was off when they all grabbed long hooded robes…”